LuminAID hits it big with Shark Tank investments

Shark Tank has been hitting America by storm, and our client LuminAID was fortunate enough to make an appearance this past Friday!

If you haven’t seen it yet, Shark Tank is a show where startups have the chance to pitch their products to billionaires, hoping to get an investment. It was LuminAID’s turn for a share of the spotlight and they earned a $200,000 investment from billionaire Mark Cuban. Meanwhile, here at BuddyBoss we spent the last few weeks preparing their website to handle the 3 million visitors who would inevitably come to their site during that 1 hour segment!

LuminAID is a startup owned by two intelligent women, namely Andrea Sreshta (a current MBA student at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business) and Anna Stork (2012 Kauffman Global Scholar at the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship). These two women came up with an inflatable solar light, intended for emergency purposes. The idea for LuminAID’s inflatable solar light first came up after the incident of the Haiti earthquake in 2010. But it was after a year, during the Tokyo earthquake, when the duo decided that their product could become a necessity for such emergencies and unpredictable catastrophes. Thus, it led them to put their innovative product on the market.

Currently, their technology is being used by relief organizations all over the world. The solar-charged waterproof lantern is being sold for a retail price of $19.95. Before Shark Tank, LuminAID had already earned more than $1 million in sales in the last 12 months.

On the hit program Shark Tank, LuminAID received offers from all five Sharks! It’s a rare incident to see all five Sharks throwing in their money to invest in a single company. Mark Cuban offered $200,000 for a 15 percent stake in the company, with an option to lead the next round of financing for $300,000. Another similar offer came from Robert Herjavec without the additional financing option. For a 20% stake in the company, Daymond John offered $300,000. Lori Greiner only offered $200,000. Kevin O’Leary was fast to offer a $200,000 investment for 4% in royalties up to $800,000.

In the end, Andrea and Anna chose Mark Cuban’s bid. According to Andrea, they made the right decision with Cuban. For them, Mark Cuban understands their vision about the technology as not just something to be sold as a consumer product. Congrats, ladies!